


Mission Preparation in Wall Market

by SirenAlpha



Series: Remake: Zack Lives AU [3]
Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24332056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirenAlpha/pseuds/SirenAlpha
Summary: Zack was down for rescuing Tifa from the local crime lord in Sector 6. He just didn’t understand why they had to pick the most inconvenient and unnecessarily long way to do it and subject Cloud to a lot of creepy people in the process. Just because he couldn’t fight anybody at the moment didn’t mean no one else could!
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Series: Remake: Zack Lives AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756627
Comments: 22
Kudos: 325





	Mission Preparation in Wall Market

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on some kind of Clack kick because this is like 20k in about a week. 
> 
> The subtitle for this fic is Hot Takes on Zack in Wall Market. I've got some differing opinions on how Zack would react to the Wall Market shenanigans from what I've seen. I see SOLDIERS as part of a militarized police force rather than strictly military so I imagine at some point Zack has been sent on a mission outside of Midgard where he's had to deal with crime lords who unlike Corneo actually threaten Shinra's position of authority (not that militaries don't necessarily complete similar missions) which will color his opinions on Wall Market.
> 
> This is part of a series, but you don't have to read the other fic. I'm just putting them together in a series because they take place in the same AU, I set up for events in the other fic in this one, and I take out some of the video game logic for things that make more real world sense.

“So what’s the plan?” Zack asks after Aerith decided they were gonna go rescue Tifa, and they start walking towards Wall Market.

“Find a way in, get Tifa, then get out,” Aerith suggests.

“That’s a brainstorm, not a plan,” Zack tells her, and they reach the beginning of Wall Market by coming across a chocobo stable with a carriage very similar to the one Tifa had been riding in. “Hey, Cloud, look, it’s you.”

Cloud gives him a flat look which really means he likes it but was pretending really hard that he doesn’t.

Still, Aerith approaches the man handling one of the large birds. “Hey, you gave a ride to a woman earlier. Do you have any idea where she went?”

“No,” the stablehand responds, clearly annoyed. “And if you don’t need a ride then get the hell out of here. Can’t you see I’m trying to work?”

“Can’t say I can, no,” Cloud says.

Cloud’s way with people is probably not something Zack should like about him, but here he is.

“What’d you say to me, you little-,”

The stablehand gets cut off from what Zack is sure would have been a very original insult by the chocobo he’d abandoned calling for attention.

“What’s all the ruckus out here?” a man asks, coming out of the building attached to the stable. He looks like he has a number of years on the stablehand as well as a better beard so Zack assumes he’s in charge. The new guy looks over the three of them and says, “I don’t know you. What’s your story?”

“We’re looking for a woman who took one of your carriages. Can you help us find her?” Aerith asks him.

“Depends,” he says, barely looking at them while he calms down the agitated chocobo. “What d’you want with this girl of yours?”

“Guess-,” Cloud starts, but Aerith steps forward to interrupt him.

“She’s a friend, and we’re a little worried she’s gotten herself into some trouble,” Aerith says, which is true without giving any unnecessary details.

“I get a lot of customers. Hard to keep track of ‘em all,” the man says. “This woman, what’s she look like?”

“She’s got pale skin, long, dark, straight hair, about this tall,” Zack says, holding his hand up to about where the top of Tifa’s head would be. “Last seen in a dark colored, short Wutaian dress with pink flowers in her hair.”

“Wait, you talking about Tifa?” the guy asks.

“That’s her,” Cloud says, and Zack tries to figure out how this random chocobo guy would know Tifa by name.

"Oho, looks like someone’s got a bit of a crush,” the guy says with a hint of smile.

“I’m taken,” Cloud says, gesturing towards Zack, and perfectly executing a Cloud induced awkward silence.

The guy clears his throat. “In any case, it’s going to be a long while before she sees the light of day again.”

“And why’s that?” Zack says, crossing his arms and tilting his head to look a little more intimidating. That was really the whole point of wearing the Buster Sword when he couldn’t actually use it. He’s getting the feeling Aerith might be right about the necessity of a rescue even if he knows Tifa can defend herself.

The man doesn’t look intimidated, but he says, “She’s a real pretty girl. Corneo’s hosting another audition, and Tifa was chosen as a candidate.”

Zack has a bad feeling about that. There can’t be a good reason for a crime lord to host auditions for pretty women.

“An audition for what?” Aerith asks.

“For the title of the next Mrs. Corneo,” the man explains, and Zack doesn’t like that next because he’s pretty sure Corneo doesn’t do divorce. “She’s what he likes, rolled into one sweet package. Having scouted girls for so long, I know his tastes better than my own. Considering those tastes, I can guarantee you this: she won’t be walking out of that mansion anytime soon, if at all.” 

The best case scenario Zack can possibly imagine is a woman volunteering because she actually wants to marry Corneo and ends up in a relationship with a huge power imbalance, but this sounds a hell of a lot like women getting trafficked to be raped by the crime lord and maybe others then murdered once he tires of them. Aerith was right like she usually is. Zack says, “You’re a piece of shit.”

The man looks startled by his statement, but Cloud doesn’t pause at all. “So where can we find this Don Corneo?”

“What’re you asking for?” the man asks, now starting to look suspicious of them. “Thinking of raising holy hell or something? Do what you gotta, but leave me out of it. I told you what you wanna know so take a walk.”

“And there goes our best lead yet,” Aerith says.

“Hardly,” Zack says, still disgusted by the man. “Corneo’s the local crime lord. It won’t exactly be hard to find him since he’ll own the nicest place, and I’m sure everyone here knows which place is his.”

They start heading towards into town with it’s bright lights and loud music spilling into the street. It’s not the greatest on his SOLDIER enhanced senses, but he can survive it. A barker tries to hustle them as soon as they enter the town proper, but they move past him. They slowly make their way down the street, and Zack tries to catch the sound of anyone discussing Corneo. They continue straight through until they reach a set of stairs that lead up to a Wutaian style palace.

“Check it out,” Aerith says as they being climbing the stairs. “Looks like we’ve found our man, and he’s a gaudy one.”

“Yeah,” Cloud agrees.

Zack checks the grounds for any guards and doesn’t see any. He’d expect better security for a local crime lord and for someone to stop them. Instead, they’re able to enter the front door of the palace without meeting any resistance.

There are three guards protecting the interior doors, and Zack’s pretty sure that still isn’t enough. Did all the guards have the night off or something? There’s also a weird assortment of crap in what could arguably be called the foyer to the palace, everything from a giant gong to empty food carts and what looks like extra cleaning supplies. This Corneo guy had to be gaudy and a hoarder.

“Not so fast, buddy,” the center doorman says. “Back it up. Got no need for pretty boys here.”

“We’re looking for someone,” Cloud says.

“Lemme guess, first time in Wall Market,” the doorman says, looking unimpressed with them.

“Yeah, so?” Cloud asks, crossing his arms.

“So people just can’t walk through the don’s front door. Especially not men,” he says, giving Zack an especially harsh look. Zack’s pretty sure that the doorman doesn’t appreciate that he could walk right over him even without being fully recovered.

“How about me then? Can I go inside?” Aerith asks.

“Maybe, but you’re gonna wish you didn’t,” the doorman says.

Zack raises his eyebrows because that is one guy who does not like his boss. Could be useful.

“Y’know, Leslie,” one of the other goons says. “She’s kinda cute. Homely, but cute.”

“Excuse you?” Aerith asks with offense.

“Kinda cute’s not gonna cut it,” the Leslie guy says.

“C’mon, can’t you help us out?” she asks.

Zack would kinda prefer if Aerith didn’t go in on her own because then he and Cloud would be stuck trying to get the two women back out again. They could probably do it if this was how few guards Corneo had, but it would be annoying.

“Do you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into?” Leslie asks.

“I dunno,” the third doorman says, “With a little work, I bet she’d clean up nice.”

“Requesting permission to kill,” Aerith says.

“Denied,” Cloud says immediately.

“Why?” Zack asks because it would definitely solve the problem of getting in.

Cloud turns to him and gives him a look like he’s been betrayed.

“What?” Zack asks. “I can’t be on your side all the time.”

“If you’re really sure you wanna join the audition then you’re going to need to get official approval,” Leslie says.

“And who can give us that?” Aerith asks.

“The trio, the only ones in town considered authorities on Corneo’s particular tastes,” he says.

“I didn’t realize being into large breasts was a particular taste,” Zack says derisively. “No offense to Tifa.”

It wasn’t her fault that some men became basically brain dead when confronted with the body type she had naturally.

“You want the information or not?” Leslie asks.

Zack motions for him to continue.

“First there’s Chocobo Sam, and then there’s Madam M over at the massage parlor. Last, but not least, there’s the Honeybee Inn’s Andrea Rhodea,” he explains. “They’re an eccentric bunch to put it mildly, and you should know they don’t recommend just any girl stupid enough to come knocking.”

“Duly noted,” Aerith says. “Thanks for the info. We’ll be back soon.”

“Are we seriously going to do this?” Zack asks after they’ve left the palace. “Why do you need to get chosen to go in? They’ve only got the three guards. That’s practically asking for us to walk in.”

“You’re still injured,” Cloud says.

“We’re also trying to avoid attention. We could make problems for Tifa if we go in swords drawn,” Aerith says.

“Maybe it’s more subtle at first, but that just doubles the number of people we have to make sure get out safe. What do we do if you need our help inside, but we’re stuck on the outside?” Zack asks, crossing his arms.

“I’m hoping we can just slip out of the place so it doesn’t come to that,” Aerith says. “Come on, we need to be quick if we want to help Tifa out.”

“I think we can cross out Chocobo Sam,” Zack says. “He’s probably the guy we talked to back at the stables since he said he picked Tifa. No point in going to him if he’s already given someone his approval. We’ll have to hope the other two don’t already have someone picked out.”

“So we try the Honeybee Inn or the massage parlor,” Cloud says.

“Whichever is closer,” Zack says.

They end up at the Honeybee Inn first. Thankfully the place is clearly marked, and they have to pass through red curtains rather than a door to enter. The place looks like it’s trying to masquerade as a proper theater, but the honeybee costumes for the women are as tacky as they are skimpy so Zack’s already not feeling the place even if the men’s costumes are much more respectable as dancing costumes. 

They head for the reception desk, and the receptionist wears a very gold jacket. “Good evening,” he greets them with a bow.

“Heya,” Aerith responds automatically.

“Welcome to the heart and soul of Wall Market; the Honeybee Inn,” the receptionist continues. “Is there a Honeyboy or girl whose company you desire?”

And the place just got a thousand times more uncomfortable. It’s one thing if it’s sexist costumes for dancers, and another if it’s essentially a dressed up strip club or brothel that’s no doubt forcing the dancers into the company of perverted and abusive men to earn a living. In Zack’s experience, good men don’t need to pay for people to tolerate their company, and only the desperate who should be receiving help instead of sexual harassment or assault are willing to take that money. He’s sure Corneo takes a plenty big cut from this place. Zack just hopes that referring to the dancers as boys and girls is euphemistic and there aren’t minors working here or he might have to go out and bust heads.

“We’re here to see Andrea Rhodea,” Cloud says, and he’s also eying the receptionist suspiciously.

“Ah, the shining star of the Honeybee Inn,” the receptionist says. “Now, are you the one who made the appointment, sir? Can I have your name?”

“Oh, we don’t have an appointment,” Cloud admits before Zack can even finish working out if there’d be a way to figure out the name of someone who had an appointment.

“I see. I’m terribly sorry, sir. An appointment is required, and the earliest available slot is three years from now.”

Zack blinks because he can’t even imagine what he’s doing next week let alone what it’s like to have a schedule planned out for the next three years.

“Three years?” Aerith cries out.

“All we want is five minutes. He can spare that,” Cloud argues.

“I need his help for the Corneo audition,” Aerith adds.

“Yes, well, regardless of circumstances, you cannot meet him without an appointment,” the receptionist explains.

“Is there really no other way?” she asks.

“It is rare, but Mr. Rhodea does occasionally extend invitations to individuals who catch his eye. Otherwise, I’m sorry, but there really is nothing that can be done.”

“Well, I don’t think that’s going to happen, and we’re on a time limit,” Zack says. “Time to go try Madam M.”

He leads the way out with Cloud and Aerith following him, and they make their way over to the massage parlor. The entire parlor is done up in a Wutaian style and the woman behind the desk wears a Wutaian dress with her hair done up with matching pins as well as carrying a matching fan. “Welcome, welcome, step right up,” she says as they step inside. “Now then, what manner of massage do you desire?”

“Say what?” Aerith asks as they approach the desk.

“This your first time in our establishment?” the woman asks.

Aerith nods.

“We are a hand massage parlor,” she explains. “An excess of fatigue and tension can make even the simplest task a terrible strain. It is our pleasure to relieve our patrons of that tension, and what better way to seek relief than through the skilled ministrations of a professional? So now that we understand each other, what manner of massage do you desire?”

“We’re not customers,” Cloud says.

“Then you are?” she asks.

Aerith answers, “Hoping you can help us meet Madam M so she can get us an invitation to the audition with Don -”

“Oh for the love of,” the woman interrupts. “Say another word, and I’ll shove this fan right down your throat.”

She threatens Aerith by pointing the fan in her direction.

“This is the last thing I need,” the woman says, coming out from behind the desk. “You’re young and stupid, and I suppose that means you think I’ll let you off easy. So you want what? A favor?”

Zack realizes then that this isn’t some masseuse working for the parlor, but Madam M herself.

“Well, here’s the thing,” she continues, circling their small group. “This is a massage parlor, a respectable establishment, but if you don’t require our services…”

She suddenly drops her customer service voice. “Then tell me! Is there any reason I shouldn’t have you dragged outside and shot for wasting my valuable time? Well?”

She rounds on Cloud at the end of her rant and seems to calm down somewhat. She then places the end of her closed fan under Cloud’s chin, and Zack suddenly likes her even less.

“Name?” Madam M asks him.

After a moment, Cloud answers, “Cloud Strife.”

She then tilts his chin up using her fan, and Zack takes a step forward.

“Hand,” she demands without sparing a glance at Zack.

“Huh?” Cloud asks.

“Give it to me,” she demands more harshly.

Cloud cautiously gives her his hand, and she grips it tightly enough that Zack can hear his leather glove creak.

“The strong, firm hands of a fighter, yet they possess a certain elegance and grace,” she says, and Zack rolls his eyes at the bullshit. Cloud was clearly carrying a sword, and she wanted to butter up a potential client. “Okay, Cloud, let’s see what you’re made of. After that, we’ll talk. So, which course will it be?”

Zack steps forward instead of Cloud. “If you really need one of us to get a massage just to talk, you’re gonna have to settle for me.”

She frowns at him. “What are you supposed to be? The bodyguard?” she asks dismissively.

“No, I’m the boyfriend,” he says with a smile. He can hear Cloud sigh from behind him because he doesn’t like when Zack doesn’t use partner. While he totally understands Cloud’s point about it being a more serious term, this was not the time for Madam M to be thinking they were _mercenary_ partners.

“Too jealous to even let anyone else touch him?” she goads.

Zack shrugs because the truth is that there’s no way Cloud would be remotely comfortable with a stranger touching him, and he doesn’t give a shit what this lady thinks.

When he doesn’t budge, she snaps her fan closed again and says, “Fine, just choose a course.”

“I’ve had massages before so you better be good,” Zack says even as he pays for the most expensive course to try and calm her down after taking away her preferred customer.

She definitely takes offense to that. “I assure you, I am very good. You can head to the back room for treatment.”

“You sure about this?” Cloud asks.

“It’s stupid, but I’ll be fine. Hopefully this works to get us in to Tifa,” he says, brushing his hand through Cloud’s hair to comfort him. He wasn’t super psyched for a strange and short tempered woman to be touching him, but he really had experienced massages before without issue. It was just a little harder after Nibelheim, but it still wasn’t as bad for him as it was for Cloud who hadn’t liked touching even before then.

“Okay,” Cloud says with a sigh, and lets him go.

Zack has to put his sword against the wall and take off his gloves before lying down on the table. At least with it being a hand massage he doesn’t have to take his clothes off like he would have to for a full body massage. Then he probably wouldn’t be able to go through with it.

Madam M joins him soon after he’s ready. She closes off the room and begins her spiel, “This exclusive treatment is reserved for our most well to do patrons. First, the hand cream.”

That surprises Zack as every massage he had ever had had used oil rather than cream. Once she begins applying it, from his fingertips up to his elbow, he realizes that it was very oily and probably the reason it was used for massage. She starts with the tendons below his elbow, and he sees some surprise register on her face.

“What are you made of? Rocks?” she asks somewhat accusingly. He doubts she uses that tone with other clients, but he’s already pissed her off.

“Basically,” he says because he works with his hands a lot even without the Buster Sword, and he knows he carries all his tension in his shoulders and arms and hands. “You can go harder.”

She really begins to dig into his muscles then, and it hurts in a good way. “You need to relax. Stress is poison to the body.”

“Ma’am, I am well aware,” he says. He’s had stress piling up for years, and he knows that it’s not just the injuries and recovering from blood loss that makes his entire body feel like crap.

She gives him a look for calling her that, but continues her work. After warming up his muscles, she switches to a technique he’s never had any other masseur use on him before and he’s suddenly chanting “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow,” under his breath.

“Too much?” she asks, sly about it like she’s bested him.

“No, that’s good,” he says, because it might hurt, but it still hurts in a good way. He’s starting to think his past masseurs just did not use enough force on him.

She finishes with his first arm, and his entire arm just feels weightless and relaxed and so good. It’s just as painful when she works to get his muscles to release and relax on his other arm, but totally worth the feeling afterwords.

“Holy shit,” he says when he sits up after she’s finished, feeling lightheaded.

“I was going to be mad at you, but you seem like you actually needed that. You’re free to come again,” she tells him. “If you pay, of course.”

“That’s fine,” he says because he’s not going to come back no matter how good she is when she sends women to Corneo. It takes him a moment to put his gloves and sword on as the lightheaded feeling doesn’t dissipate, and his gloves somehow feel better on his hands than before he took them off? Wild.

The feeling doesn’t go away even as he makes his way back out to Cloud and Aerith.

“How was it?” Aerith asks.

“Good,” he says with a sigh before deciding to drape himself over Cloud so he can smell his hair and melting into him. Cloud sways under his unexpected weight before finding balance between them and settling his hands at Zack’s sides so he can keep him steady.

“You okay?” Aerith asks cautiously.

“Yeah,” he says because he can’t imagine anything better than this. His body doesn’t feel like complete shit for once, and he has his face buried in Cloud’s hair.

“You’re acting weird, Zack,” Aerith says, and Zack really doesn’t care.

Cloud then makes a noise of concern so Zack pulls back to look at him. “I’m good,” he promises.

Cloud searches his face for a moment before nodding.

“Huh, so you really are the boyfriend,” Madam M says as she rejoins them in the front room though Zack has no idea why that of all things she wouldn’t believe.

“So?” Aerith asks.

“Tell me what you want, and we’ll take it from there,” Madam M says.

“You’re one of the trio right? I want to get into Corneo’s next audition,” Aerith explains, following her back to her front desk. 

“And why in the world would you want to do that?” she asks as she fans herself. “Okay.”

“Really,” Aerith asks, and Zack finds the agreement came a little too easy.

“But you cannot go dressed like that,” Madam M says, gesturing towards Aerith’s dress. It was very casual compared to what Tifa had been wearing. “I could never send Corneo a candidate wearing such a plain looking get up. Doing so would call my position as one of the trio into question.”

“Is something wrong with my outfit?” Aerith asks, turning to Zack and Cloud.

Zack can practically see the buffering wheel spinning in Cloud’s head as he tries to come up with an acceptable response. Zack tells her, “There’s nothing wrong with your outfit, but I’m pretty sure Corneo’s audition is a formal event, and that’s not formal wear.”

Zack’s had to wear monkey suits for corporate events before so he knows what’s up.

“Then what should I do about the outfit?” Aerith asks, holding out her arms.

Madam M laughs. “You just leave that to me. I’ll put you in a dress so fabulous, you’ll look like a million gil. So long as you can afford it.” 

“How much?” Cloud asks, stepping forward.

“What I said,” she answers, completely casual about dropping a million gil on a dress. “But don’t worry. It’s obvious you can’t afford a dress with that kind of price tag. So listen, I have an idea.”

“Uh-huh,” Cloud says, just to show he’s paying attention.

“There’s an underground colosseum in this town. Up for a fight, Cloud? Good because I’m getting you into that arena.”

“What?” Zack asks because he does not like this volunteering of his partner for dangerous things like underground fighting rings.

Madam M ignores him. “If you win the tournament, I’ll transform Aerith into a drop-dead gorgeous beauty.”

“There any prize money?” Cloud asks like that was the most pertinent information about a fighting ring and not like who do they let fight if they’ll let a guy with SOLDIER enhancements in or do they allow fights to the death.

“Yes, for the person who got you in. So, what do you say?”

“Alright,” Cloud agrees almost immediately without a discussion. Zack wouldn’t say he hates that, but he definitely doesn’t prefer it.

“That’s what I like to hear. You’ll need this,” she says, pulling out a ticket of some kind from her desk to give to Cloud. Zack gets a look at it after she hands it over to see it’s an entry ticket for competitors in the arena. “They should be letting fighters in already. You should hurry, run along.”

“Are we sure we wanna do this?” Zack asks once they’re out of the parlor. “Like, think about it, entering a tournament that Corneo probably runs and profits from is just going to make us more noticeable and increases the likelihood of failure. We’re doing this to rescue Tifa, remember, so why are we tiring ourselves out before hand?”

“Not us,” Cloud says in a tone that left no room for argument. “Just me. Whoever they get won’t be a match for enhancements. It’s low risk.”

“Hey, I can fight, too,” Aerith says.

“The prize money is a million gil, that’s not low risk. This is a high stakes, unregulated fight tournament, you’ll have no idea what you’ll be going up against,” Zack tells Cloud then turns to Aerith. “And you’re the one we’re trying to sneak in so you definitely shouldn’t be fighting in this tournament and making your face known to Corneo’s men.”

“I don’t see the harm,” Aerith argues. “It’s for getting into the audition so there’s no reason for them to expect subterfuge. Besides, we really do need the dress from Madam M if we want to be able to sneak in there to get Tifa out.”

“If we’re going to be fighting randos and delivering profits to Corneo in the process, why can’t we just go in and storm his palace?” Zack asks, begging for some sanity on this.

“Sneaking her out is still less dangerous,” Aerith argues.

“Seriously?” Zack asks, looking to Cloud.

“I’m doing the tournament,” Cloud says, and Zack sighs and just follows along.

“So you really think we can win it all?” Aerith asks as they make their way to where the fights were held.

“That’s the one thing I’m definitely sure of,” Cloud says.

Zack’s pretty sure Cloud’s newfound confidence after getting his enhancements is going to kill him someday. It's probably 90% bravado still, but just hearing Cloud say that kind of shit gets him way too easily.

“I appreciate the confidence, just don’t get too cocky, okay?” Aerith tells him.

“I don’t know,” Zack says with a smile. “I kinda like it when he’s cocky.”

Aerith shoots him a look he’d never seen before Nibelheim, but has come to learn means something along the lines of keep it in your pants. Cloud just gives him a look like he’s being weird.

“This is way nicer than I was expecting,” Zack says when they finally find the place. What was with Sector 6 trying to make places look like old fashioned theaters?

“Yeah, I’m kinda impressed,” Aerith says while Cloud heads straight to the entrance for competitors.

“You’re cutting it really close,” the doorman says as he takes the ticket from Cloud. “Are you three a team?”

“Yes, the two of us are a team,” Aerith says, moving to stand beside Cloud and keep Zack excluded.

Zack knows he can’t fight right now, but it’s still annoying. He just has to settle for crossing his arms. 

“Alright, team it is,” the doorman says. “Head to the waiting area down below. The entrance for spectators is right over there.”

“We’ll see you soon,” Aerith says, giving him a wave.

Cloud gives him a parting nod before heading down with her.

Zack then gets to wait in line to buy a ticket and get in. He also buys himself popcorn because he’s already been out longer than he expected to be and it’s salty. The announcers are entertaining, but after watching the first round, Zack gets the sense that Cloud and Aerith won’t have much trouble winning. It helps ease some of his worries, but he continues to stress eat his way through the popcorn. The matches aren’t that interesting compared to what he’s seen, and Cloud and Aerith easily advance through the rounds with the crowd’s jeers turning into cheers as they continue to succeed. The sweepers are surprising, but Zack knows Cloud’s dealt with them before with Avalanche. The Hell House makes Zack genuinely nervous when it swallows Cloud for a time, but he makes it out fine. Cloud and Aerith defeat the house to take the tournament, and Zack clears out ahead of the crowd.

He doesn’t have to wait long for Cloud and Aerith to reappear.

“Good job, guys,” he tells them. “We gotta head back to the massage parlor now?”

“Yeah, Madam M sent along a message to us telling us to head back,” Aerith says. “We also got invited by the staff to come back and fight again.”

Zack shakes his head. “Yeah, I wouldn’t come back or else you’d be generating profit for the don for all the seats you’d sell out now that you’re champions.”

“Let’s get going,” Cloud says, pushing through the emptying crowd and back into the street. They head quickly back to the massage parlor.

“Good, you’re here,” Madam M says when they reenter her place of business. “I have everything we need to get started. Just one more thing before we do, you’re _the_ Cloud right? Cloud the merc? I’m told you did a wonderful job helping the people of Sector 5. You have a very impressive work ethic. It’s like they say ‘Good things come to those who work.’ What goes around comes around, and in ways that might surprise you. I’m gonna put Aerith in the most gorgeous dress you’ve ever seen, a real jaw-dropper. Ready?”

“Yes, let’s go,” Aerith says, stepping forward.

“Alright then, let’s get started. Beauty takes a lot of work and preparation, far more than you’d know,” she says to her then looks to Cloud. “In the meantime, let me see, let me think, there ought to be things you can only do without your friend. Now’s your chance to get out and have some fun. I can tell you’re already beginning to feel at home here, though being so new to it I assumed you still wouldn’t know how to enjoy yourself properly. So I went and had a chat with Sam. He said he’d be happy to help you out.”

“Hey, no one asked you to do that,” Cloud snaps at her.

“But there’s so much you don’t know. This is the perfect opportunity for you to learn the ways of the world and man the hell up.”

“Ma’am, are you saying I don’t know how to get my own partner off?” Zack asks, crossing his arms.

“Zack,” both Cloud and Aerith snap at him, though Cloud seems to be doing it out of embarrassment and Aerith to warn him to avoid pissing Madam M off.

He continues regardless. “Because I find it pretty offensive. Or do you think I’m too young and sheltered to be able to do it, too?”

Madam M shoots him an annoyed look like he was out to ruin all of her fun. Cloud looks younger than he is due to his height compared to Zack and the little bit of baby fat he has left in his cheeks, but Zack knows he doesn’t look that young with his height and scars.

Madam M waves him off, “Fine, have your own fun. Aerith, come with me.”

“I can’t wait to see the dress,” Aerith says a little too excitedly to try and force out the tension in the room. She passes her staff over to Zack before following Madam M.

“The dress is part of it, sure, but we also need to do something about that plain-Jane make up and hairdo,” Madam M says before looking her over again. “This is gonna take some work.”

“Ouch,” Aerith says then turns to Zack and Cloud. “I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

“Peek, and I’ll poke out your eyes,” Madam M threatens before guiding Aerith into the back.

“I don’t think she actually believes we’re partners,” Zack says once they’ve left the room.

“Did you have to say that?” Cloud asks.

“No, but like I said, I didn’t appreciate the implication.”

Cloud just shakes his head. “Let’s go get Tifa some clothes rather than waiting here.”

“What? Why do we need to get clothes for Tifa?” Zack asks.

“Did you see her when she was coming in? She’s wearing heels and a small dress. How will she fight in that?” he asks as he leads the way out of the parlor.

“Okay, how do you plan on smuggling the clothes in to give to her?”

“I don’t know, but we have to bring Aerith’s clothes, too, so we might as well get some for Tifa just in case.”

“That’s fair, it would definitely be best for them to have clothes they can fight in if sneaking around goes wrong. We can work on how to smuggle them in later.”

Wall Market being Wall Market, has a few different clothing stores, and they go to the second hand store to get what they could for cheap in case Tifa didn’t like it. Zack lets Cloud pick out the clothes since he knows her better, and he ends up picking out an outfit similar to what she’d been wearing when Zack had seen her at the bar.

“You sure those are the right size?” Zack asks because he’s only guestimating from what he remembers of Tifa, and Cloud has seen her more recently, but he’s pretty sure the clothes are too big.

“Yes, they’ll fit her,” Cloud says, folding the clothes in his arms and moving onto the shoes.

The store had less of a shoe selection, and they buy basically the only pair of shoes you could actually do things in that came in her size. They even found a cheap bag to shove all the clothes into. They paid then headed back to the parlor to wait for Aerith to finish up.

Aerith comes into the front room in a strapless floor length dress with more intense make up and her hair curled and contained in fancier ribbons with fake flowers for decoration.

“You look great,” Zack tells her with a grin.

Zack looks at Cloud when he doesn’t say anything and finds him staring at Aerith with his mouth open a little.

“What is this?” he asks, nudging Cloud. “Do I need to dress up in a suit to have you stare at me in awe?”

“I wasn’t!” Cloud insists hotly, and Zack laughs.

“Thanks, Cloud,” Aerith says with a smile, like the staring was a proper compliment and not rude.

“I was just surprised,” he insists and making Aerith giggle.

“It’s fine,” Zack tells him, putting his arms around his shoulders and pulling him close. Cloud doesn’t relax into him as he normally would as Madam M rejoins them in the room.

“We had a visitor while you were gone,” she says, playing coy with her fan and her attention on Cloud. “You’ve caught the eye of a certain fabulous someone who would like to meet you in person. You’d best not keep him waiting. Aerith knows where to take you.”

“Come on, let’s get going,” Aerith says, gesturing for them to head right back out the door.

“Wait, put your clothes in the bag,” Zack tells her.

“What bag?” she asks, and Cloud holds out the bag they just bought.

She puts her old clothes in there and asks, “Whose clothes are these?”

“We got them for Tifa,” Cloud explains.

“Good idea, but we need to get going,” she says, zipping up the bag and handing it back to Cloud.

Zack’s fine with leaving Madam M behind, but he’s got a bad feeling about who wants to see Cloud that only gets worse when Aerith leads them to the Honeybee Inn.

“Not this place,” Zack says.

“Why are we here?” Cloud asks.

“To see the Honeybee Inn’s Andrea Rhodea and convince him to give you his stamp of approval,” she explains. “If we get his help, you can join me in infiltrating Corneo’s palace.”

“He’s aware I’m a man, right?” Cloud asks.

“Why is everyone in this place obsessed with you?” Zack asks.

“It’s been two people,” Cloud says.

“That’s two people too many.”

“Come on,” Aerith says. “It’ll be fun. Honestly, I think you’ll look pretty cute in a dress.”

“What?” Cloud asks sharply.

First, they wanna touch Cloud’s hands, and now, they want to put him in uncomfortable clothing. Cloud hates restrictive or complicated clothing to begin, and Zack had learned quickly that Cloud got very embarrassed wearing clothes he considered adventurous which was basically anything that wasn’t a uniform or a baggy shirt and pants.

“It’s pretty rare for Andrea to take a personal interest in someone. At least, that’s what Madam M said,” Aerith continues. “Trust me, this is gonna work out great.”

Zack highly doubts it. “I’m better at hand to hand than him, and there’s no way they’re letting him in with a sword.”

Cloud shot him a grateful look, but they both know where this is headed.

“Zack, you can’t fight right now whether or not you have a sword,” Aerith says. “Besides, you would not pass, and Andrea’s only interested in Cloud.”

“You saying I’m not pretty enough?” he asks, crossing his arms in faux offense. He knew there was no way he could pass for a woman. They’d probably have a hard enough time with Cloud even with his smaller stature.

Aerith laughs, “I know better than to boost your ego.”

“I think you’re very pretty,” Cloud says with just enough of a smirk on his face to show he was teasing.

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” he says before turning more serious. “Are you seriously going to do this?”

“If I go in with them, it increases our chances of success and eliminates the possibility another woman getting chosen by Corneo,” Cloud says. “Even if I have to do it in a dress.”

Zack sighs because he’s right, and he’s clearly decided on it.

“So!” Aerith says, refocuses on the topic. “Here’s how I think we should approach him.”

“Don’t let Cloud talk first, no offense,” Zack says. Cloud shoots him a look for it, but doesn’t disagree.

Aerith waves him off. “Madam M said Andrea was a man who’d give anyone a fair chance to win him over.”

“A fair chance in this town?” Zack asks.

“Zack,” Aerith scolds him before turning back to Cloud. “I say we march up to him, explain the situation, and see where that gets us, sound good?”

Cloud just sighs and starts heading into the inn. This time when they go up to the receptionist and ask to speak to Rhodea, he says, “You must be Mr. Cloud. He’s waiting for you.”

“Mr. Cloud?” Cloud asks.

“I’ve been instructed to send you through without delay, sir. Please, make your way to the stage in the back.”

“What stage?”

“The one in the back, sir. Straight through those doors and down the hall.”

Zack and Aerith aren’t allowed to go with him. He puts his hands on his hips and turns towards her. “This is not going to be fun.”

“What makes you say that?” she asks as she takes a seat on one of the waiting room couches.

“This place is full of dancers, and Cloud’s going to be taken on a stage. He hates dancing.”

“Oh,” she says, now sounding worried. “Is he a bad dancer?”

“Not really. I’ve only seen him dance a couple times. He’s weirdly good at mimicking other people’s moves, but he hates other people watching him dance.”

“You worried he’s gonna get stage fright?” she asks like it was an impossibility for Cloud.

“No, he’ll plow through that just fine. He’s just going to be embarrassed and uncomfortable the entire time.”

Aerith gives him a look. “And then you’ll have second hand embarrassment the entire time and not be able to enjoy it.”

Zack sends her a look back. “Yes, I’ve got bad second hand embarrassment, but why would I ever enjoy seeing my partner miserable?”

“He might surprise you and be just fine,” she says.

Zack doesn’t tell her that just the week before he’d come home to the tiny apartment he shared with Cloud to find him dancing along to one of the songs he likes on the shitty, little radio they’d picked up. Cloud had turned bright red despite him barely doing anything more than bopping along and hadn’t been able to look at him for an hour. Yeah, Cloud was not going to be fine.

He and Aerith barely make it into the hall for the start of the dance due to having to put his sword, Aerith’s staff and the clothing bag in the Inn’s coatroom. He spots Cloud being escorted onto stage by a little entourage of dancers and his sword missing. A man in a black outfit with a few other female dancers pop out of a flower in the middle of the stage. Zack guesses that’s Rhodea. He and Aerith quickly take seats, and he jumps when one of the female dancers suddenly takes a seat beside him. He ignores that for the moment to check on Cloud.

Rhodea goes straight to Cloud as the other dancer continue the routine around him. He circles around Cloud, doing something that makes him jump. Rhodea returns to his position in the routine, and Cloud tries to make an exit while the dancers gently guide him towards Rhodea. Zack can already feel the second hand embarrassment from how Cloud keeps looking around nervously.

Then all the dancers leave so only Rhodea and Cloud are on stage. Rhodea points as a spotlight appears next to him. Cloud must accept the challenge as he moves into the spotlight. The song changes and the entire room goes dark except for a spotlight on Cloud, looking completely out of his depth. Then the spotlight on Rhodea reappears and the dance begins. Cloud looks off balanced for the first few motions of the dance then quickly picks up mimicking Rhodea.

“I hate this,” Zack says as he slowly sinks lower in his seat.

“Why? He’s doing so good,” Aerith says before cheering for Cloud.

Zack doesn’t know what she’s seeing, but even from a distance he can see Cloud’s keeping his face carefully neutral which meant he was uncomfortable and trying really hard not to show it. He’s also avoiding or changing some of the moves Rhodea performs, particularly the suggestive ones, and he’s tense while performing the moves. Cloud’s definitely hating this. “It’s so bad.”

“You’re going to make him feel bad looking like that,” Aerith says, slapping his shoulder.

“There’s no way he can see me when it’s this dark,” he says, hoping that it’s true.

He can’t stop himself cringing at the paired moves where Rhodea actually touches Cloud because even with gloves on there’s no way Cloud’s happy about it. He lets out a breath of relief when the song ends, and the audience begins cheering, and the lights come up again.

Then Rhodea says something to Cloud, a new song starts up, the dancers come back with a chair, and then Cloud’s being pushed into the chair.

“Now what?” Zack asks.

“I think they’re dressing him up now,” Aerith says.

“On stage?” he asks, and sits back upright.

The dancers use fans to completely shield Cloud from view as well as the dancers that must be helping with the transformation. Eventually, they pull back the fans to reveal Cloud with pigtail braids and a floor length dress. One of the male dancers guides Cloud to his feet and he looks even more confused and awkward than before. The part of the stage he’s on rises up to show the transformation off, and he just stands there, frozen. Zack tries really hard not to cringe in case he can see him with more of the lights on.

The platform comes back down, and Rhodea motions for Cloud to join him again. He guides Cloud through a few spins before ending the dance by dipping him. Cloud bows with the rest of the dancers and Rhodea and leaves the stage with them as well.

“What’d you think?” Aerith asks then turns to look at him and laughs.

“What?” he asks.

“You look like you’ve been scared half to death,” she says with a giggle. “Was that really so bad?”

“Yes, absolutely. Let’s just go find Cloud.”

They get up to leave, but one of the dancers stops them to deliver Cloud’s sword and clothes. Or at least the top half of them. Zack just shoves the clothes into the bag with Tifa’s and Aerith’s when he gets it and his sword back so he can focus on finding Cloud. He heads outside with Aerith hustling to keep up with him after taking back her staff. He slows down a little bit for her to catch up, and keeps searching. He spots Cloud around the side of the building, off to the side of the street and facing away from everyone and probably having come out a back entrance.

“Please, don’t,” Cloud says when he notices them approaching. “Not a word.”

“Not even one?” Aerith asks, and Zack can still hear the excitement in her voice.

“No!” Cloud says, even going as far as throwing up a hand in frustration.

“But you’re so pretty,” she says joyously, gesturing to Cloud’s dress.

Cloud gives a frustrated sigh and then turns to Zack to defensively ask, “Well?”

It’s a pretty unprecedented situation so Zack isn’t sure what Cloud’s looking for from him or what to say to make him feel better. He just goes with his gut. “You know I think you look good in anything. I know it’s really uncomfortable, but this is going to help with rescuing Tifa. You just gotta get in and get out and you can take it off.”

Cloud nods and looks away, but Zack can still see he’s clenching his jaw. He chances asking because he knows Cloud doesn’t like PDA, “You want a hug?”

Cloud considers it for a moment then gives him a quick nod.

“Okay,” Zack says, stepping forward and gathering Cloud into his arms. Cloud doesn’t hug him back, instead tucking his arms against his chest and pressing in closer.

He huffs in annoyance and says, “The corset’s annoying. I’m already sweating and can’t breathe properly. I want to rub my eyes so badly because of this stupid make up.”

Zack gives him a squeeze. “I know, but it’s just for a little while.”

After a moment, Cloud pulls back, and Zack lets him go. Cloud’s still not happy, but he’s better.

“Alright, let’s go,” he says.

He barely makes it two steps before Aerith says, “Hey, watch the way you walk.”

“The way I walk?” Cloud asks.

“Yes, you can’t just stop around like you’re in boots.”

“I am in boots.”

Aerith sighs, and Zack tries to contain his laughter.

“Just try to walk more nicely,” she says. “Try and copy me a little.”

Aerith passes her staff back to Zack to demonstrate walking better and leads the way to Corneo’s so Cloud can follow and mimic her. It seems to work a little bit, though somehow Cloud gets the idea that he needs to hold his hands clasped in front of himself. Though, if he’s trying to hide his masculine hands with more than just the long cuffs of the jacket, it’s working.

Zack leans in close to him to keep his voice low, “Okay, I gotta admit, the bow is tempting.”

Cloud shoots him a look for that. “You’re being weird about my waist again.”

“I am not,” he insists because Cloud can’t seem to let go that Zack tried to measure his waist with his hands just one time, and his hands had gotten absurdly far around. “The bow’s on your butt.”

“The bow’s part of the corset.”

He’s got him there. The SOLDIER’s armored belt added to his waistline and still made it look like he had a tiny waist, but the only thing the corset was doing was emphasizing it. “It’s so small, though.”

“Stop,” Cloud says, shooting him a glare.

“Okay,” he says, holding up his hands and backing off. He just won’t tell Cloud about the little bit of skin peaking out from the bottom of the cropped jacket and the top of the corset and how tempting that looks. Zack swears he didn’t use to be like this about the people he was into.

Aerith pushes open the door when they reach Corneo’s palace, and the doorman Leslie says, “No way.”

“Here you are,” Aerith says, conveniently ignoring the way Leslie is blatantly staring at Cloud. “Letters from Andrea Rhodea and Madam M. That ought to do the trick, right?”

“You serious?”

“Is there a problem?” she asks, overly sweet.

“I hope you know what you’re in for.”

“Oh, we’ll be fine,” she assures him.

“If you say so,” he says, moving to the side and gesturing for them to pass. “Come on.”

Cloud and Aerith go through the door, and then it’s just Zack outside with all their weapons and clothes and the three door guards.

“You’re just going to wait here the whole time?” Leslie asks him.

“Yep,” he says, picking out a food cart to set the bag and weapons down on. He ends up just leaning against it to rest. The long night running around Wall Market wasn’t doing him or his recovery any favors.

“You’re seriously just going to let your girlfriend go in there?” Leslie asks.

“Why do you care?” Zack asks him without judgment. He doesn’t want to berate a guy who seems to be growing a conscious.

“I’m just saying, it’s kind of stupid to let her go in there with Corneo.”

“Aerith’s single and free to do as she pleases,” Zack says, and then decides to cover for Leslie because it seems like the other two guards really are that stupid to not recognize Cloud by playing the pronoun game. “As for my partner, I trust them and know they can take care of themself.”

Leslie looks surprised for half a second before going back to his more surly demeanor. “And what if they can’t?”

Zack gives the three of them a pleasant smile. “You don’t need to worry about that. Trust me, they’re going to be perfectly fine. There’s nothing here worse than what I’ve already seen.”

The other two guards actually seem to get nervous at that, glancing at each other before looking to Leslie for further instruction. Leslie just gives him a nod of respect. “Then I hope Corneo knows better than to do anything that might hurt them.”

Zack grins, pleased they’ve come to an understanding.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I don't think Zack would have a lot of fun in Wall Market and would not have any fun seeing Cloud feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable dancing and in a dress. Aerith I'm fine with because I genuinely don't think she'd know Cloud well enough to tell when he's uncomfortable, but Zack would know. 
> 
> The importance of Zack eating a bunch of salty popcorn is that he still suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and blood loss afterwards, but he lived. He would have had enough blood loss to have anemia which gives you symptoms like fatigue, weakness, irregular heartbeat, headaches, lots of stuff that make you feel terrible and stressed out. He'd have to eat iron rich foods and maybe take iron supplements to actually get over the anemia, but when you have blood loss you also get low blood pressure and salt helps with that. 
> 
> And then yeah, Zack trusts Cloud and knows he can protect himself, but he's also completely ready to throw down for him at a moment's notice because carrying a comatose guy around for months and knowing you're his only protection doesn't just go away immediately. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
